Institute Hall will capture the essence of RIT endeavors in research, engineering and the biosciences

Conceptual design of Institute Hall which is scheduled to open next summer.

RIT’s growth in research, engineering and the biosciences will lead to more construction crews on campus this summer.

RIT will invest about $26 million in Institute Hall, which is scheduled to open in the summer of 2011. The 78,000-square-foot building will house:

New programs in chemical engineering and biomedical engineering

Expanded research labs

Labs related to the RIT-Rochester General Health System alliance

“Institute Hall will become a magnificent multi-use facility that will support new programs in engineering, expand university research agendas, and support programs affiliated with our Rochester General Health System partnership,” says RIT President Bill Destler. “Institute Hall will also illustrate RIT’s commitment to a sustainable world, as the new building will be LEED certified.”

The building is the final element of a quadrangle located on the northwest side of the campus. The building will be connected to the Center for Bioscience Education and Technology. It will square off the quadrangle with the IT Collaboratory Hall, the expanded James Gleason Hall and the new School for American Crafts village.

Designers say Institute Hall will feature an atrium space with expanses of glass that will maximize day lighting. Construction will also include renewable building materials.

“We hope to artistically translate RIT’s research and learning philosophy in this building design, which will be a powerful recruitment tool as well as a testament to the excellence in education for which RIT is well known,” says Richard Napoli, a senior architect with Bergmann Associates.

The design of Institute Hall inverts the modernist style of the original RIT campus, which opened in 1968, says Jim Crispino, president of Francis Cauffman, an architectural firm based in New York City.

“We pride ourselves on being at the forefront of trends in academic science buildings,” says Crispino. “We are excited to design a top research facility that moves RIT into a position of academic leadership and celebrates an architectural legacy that includes buildings by some of the world’s best architects.”

Bergmann Associates and Francis Cauffman

Conceptual design of Institute Hall which is scheduled to open next summer.